


Stream Maker, You Heart Breaker

by Pixiisms



Series: Olivarry Week 2018 [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Barry Allen Isn't The Flash, Fluff, M/M, Olivarry Week 2018, Oliver Queen isn't The Green Arrow, Part Chat Fic, Slow Burn, Social Media, Social Media AU, day 4: free day, its mostly fluff, twitch streamer au, well... in the literal sense, with confused dorks who don't know how to get together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 20:41:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15348309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixiisms/pseuds/Pixiisms
Summary: GreenArrow: One of the top 10 streamers on Twitch.TV and well known video game masterScarletSpeedster: Up and coming Twitch streamer known for performing music live.





	Stream Maker, You Heart Breaker

**Author's Note:**

> I originally had a day 3 fic planned, but it just... wasn't working out in the slightest and this fic was so... here we are . Don't ask where this AU idea came from... I don't know. I honestly don't know. But I feel in love with it and this fic has taken up so much of my free time and I don't mind, its my baby.
> 
> This is also my longest One shot... like... Ever? So I'm extremely proud of it. 
> 
> ALSO MAJOR SHOUT OUT TO REBEL / NEEDFRICNDS FOR BEING AN AMAZING BETA WHO WAS BETA'ING WHILE I WAS WRITING! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH AND THEY DESERVE ALL THE LOVE SO GO LOVE THEM TO DEATH!! REBEL ILY

Barry hummed to himself as he began to fidget with the camera, casually tapping his foot to the newest song he was going to cover. His mind fully engulfed with the task at hand. He spared a glance toward the computer screen, seeing if the recording program was good to go. With a smile, he adjusted the stool directly in front of the camera and walked toward the desktop, pulling up the backings, before tapping the simple ‘go live’ button that flashed on the screen. With a few movements of his mouse, the chat popped up to life, full of different messages of greeting. A smile came to Barry’s face as he shuffled on to the stool before smiling toward the camera. 

 

“Hey guys, sorry about the delayed start, I kinda got side tracked with something else!” The sheepish remark garnered a handful of laugh emojis and ‘lol’s to flood his chat, the occasional ‘ so what else is new?’ scrolling along as well. He smiled, glad to know his little community understood his habit of being late for everything, even his own live streams. Adjusting his microphone, he grabbed his wireless mouse and quickly hovered it over the backings.

 

“Alright, which one did you guys want to start with today?” Barry asks the camera while not directly looking toward it, instead eyes focused on the chat. After a few moments of waiting, song titles began to flood the small window, varying from pop songs to musicals, and the occasional slow song. He waited for something to catch his interest within the list, perking up at one in particular. 

 

“Oh, GreenArrow, I like your taste in music! Alright, everyone shush, I have picked my song!” Barry smiled to the camera before adjusting the mouse once more on the monitor, selecting the proper backing. He huffled to grab his guitar and finally positioned himself to perform.

 

“One… Two… One, two, three, four-”

 

\----

 

Oliver couldn’t exactly remember how he stumbled across the Twitch channel ‘ScarletSpeedster’, but he couldn’t help but be entranced by it. While most people ( including himself ) had used the platform to show off their video gaming skills, and maybe the occasional work of fan art, this individual had decided to use it to perform music. It was almost like giving himself a feeling of a live concert, without having to actually face an audience. It was something he could relate to, loving the rush of having fans comment of your work without actually having to face them. So he found himself following the channel, mostly for the music ( definitely not for the extremely adorable man who was behind the music, where did you get that ridiculous notion from? ) 

 

He was grabbing coffee for his roommate Laurel and himself, when the notification interrupted his music; some of ScarletSpeedster’s covers that were just addictive. It read that they were indeed going live, five minutes late (as per usual). Glancing toward the counter, he calculated that he could have a few more moments before his drinks would be coming out. That meant that he could at least pull up the stream, so it would load. He waited patiently as the buffering ring vanished, to reveal the streamer sitting atop his stool, looking off screen to what he can only assume was his monitor. 

 

‘ _ Alright, which one did you guys want to start with today?’  _ Flash asked, mouse dragging across his leg as he kept his eyes trained on the monitor. Oliver paused for a moment, for all the times he has attended the stream, he had never really made an attempt of suggesting a song for the brunet to play. It was probably because he was scared someone in the chat would recognize his screen name (his fault for being one of the bigger streamers on Twitch ). Chat focus would instantly turn to him . But this was a different type of audience than his own, this was an audience who clearly came here for music and the Flash’s personality, not some video games, so maybe no one would recognize him.

 

With a small shrug, he pulled up the chat and typed in his suggestion once, fully aware it was going to be buried by the people who would spam their request over and over again until it was seen or chosen.

 

‘  _ Oh, GreenArrow, I like your taste in music! _ ‘ Oliver tensed up slightly. Out of all the spam in the chat,Flash saw his, and picked it? And he said his screen name with no reaction. His assumptions that this audience was totally different from his wasn’t just some hopeful thought, it was actually the case. A small smile came to the archers lips as he watched the man adjust himself on the stool pick a few notes, then begin strumming the melody on the guitar with the backing supplying the rest.

 

_ ‘Right here, right now, I put the offer out- _ ’ Flash sang the song so smoothly and beautifully that Oliver couldn’t help but feel himself getting lulled by the music. He had never been a big fan of the genre, but after falling into the ocean that was his Twitch channel, and subsequentically his youtube channel, Oliver couldn’t help but find himself filling the playlist with solely his music. There is something about the man he just finds so endeering and makes him just want to fall in and meet the man. He becomes so entranced by the music, he almost misses his and Laurel’s coffee orders being called. The last thing he needs is Laurel snapping about cold coffee again. Quickly he slides his phone into his pocket, stream still playing and Flash’s vocals still beautiful and live, and grabs the two drinks before making his way down the street and toward their apartment building.

 

‘ _ Don’t , you, wanna get away from the same, old, part you gotta play’  _ The vocals are belted out beautifully and Oliver can’t stop himself from humming along as he walks. He knows Twitch is live, but he can’t help but wonder if he sounds just as beautiful as he does online in person. Of course they probably would never meet, so the best he would have to suffice with are youtube videos, and of course, his Twitch streams.

 

“ _ I don’t need to see the other side!’  _ The song cuts off just as Oliver walked into his apartment, placing the two coffees on the small table and pulling out his phone to quickly spam some applause emoji along with the rest of the chat. 

 

“ _ Haha, thanks guys, alright, start throwing suggestions out again, need one more warm up before I begin working on my newest piece’  _ Oliver dropped one of his ear buds out as he moved through the apartment, casually knocking on Laurel’s door as he walked by.

 

“What is it Ollie?” She called out, clearly entertained in something else.

 

“Coffee run!” He yelled back, knowing fully that if Laurel didn’t answer the door herself, she was probably live as well.

 

“Well bring it in then! You know I can’t exactly-”

 

“Pause a match? It’s like I’m a streamer as well.” Oliver finished her sentence as he meanders in, placing the coffee and his phone on her computer desk before turning toward the camera and giving a wave. Through the corner of his eye he can see Laurels Twitch chat begin to spam ‘GreenCanary’ and ‘BlackArrow’ over and over again, which gains an eyeroll from the male. “You’re chat is so creative.” He dead pans casually, making Laurel glance over and groan.

 

“Oh gross, you guys! He’s like my brother!” Laurel spoke in almost pure disgust, something Oliver normally would take offense too if he wasn’t in the same boat as her feelings wise. He gave a small wave to the camera before beginning to walk away, only to remember his ear buds still connected to his phone. He yanked them out of the port, and -

 

‘ _ Let’s go crazy, crazy, crazy, til we see the sun!”  _ Flash’s voice instantly filled the room as Oliver scrambles toward his phone, only for Laurel to grab it and study the screen.

 

“Who’s this? ScarletSpeedster?” Laurel muses, and of course her match had just ended in time for her to do this. In a swift move, Oliver grabs the phone, still playing the stream, and shoots a look toward Laurel.

 

“Hasn’t anyone told you it’s rude to look at other people’s phones?” Oliver whispers softly, gently nudging his head in the direction of the camera. Laurel spins around quickly, suddenly remembering she’s live.  Her mouth forms a small ‘o’ before glancing back to Oliver and raising her eyebrows, she held up a finger to the camera before muting her mic and fully facing Oliver.

 

“What got you so defensive?”

 

“N-Nothing. It’s just, it’s a small time streamer I like to watch, and he doesn’t really seem to be in our community of Twitch, so I thought it might be best to keep it that way?” Oliver mumbled softly. Laurel only gives a half assed ‘ whatever you say’ nod to Oliver, before turning back to face the microphone, pausing before she unmutes it.

 

“ScarletSpeedster, was it?” Oliver nodded slightly before quickly making his escape, collecting his headphones off the ground and exiting his fellow streamer’s room. A sly smug pulled on her lips, before she unmuted her microphone and looked toward her chat. 

 

“What do you say about an early raid you guys?”

  
  


\----

  
  


‘ _ So tonight let’s get some! And live while we’re young’ _ Barry held the last note of the song before lowering his guitar and moving to pause the backing, looking toward his chat to see the applause that normally fills his chat. Only for his eyebrows to pinch in confusion, as his chat is filled with something else entirely ‘#ScarletArrow’. Moving the mouse along his leg he quickly checks his streaming software, only to choke on his own saliva at his viewer count. Normally Barry could average around 100-300 views on good days, and most were the same people who were his subscribers, but now his viewer count was sitting at a steady 1500. He stared absolutely shocked at the number, before finally remembering he was live.

 

“W-What the hell is happening?!” Barry exclaimed in total confusion as the hashtag is quickly replaced with someone’s custom emoji. His donation alarm rang and he quickly turns toward the notification, finding a $5 donation from someone named ‘BlackCanary’ with a message attached.

 

“Raid courtesy of GreenArrow, he’s just too stubborn to do it himself ;)” Barry read aloud, eyebrows pinching together in pure confusion, turning his attention back toward the camera and released a shaky breath. “Well… um… Thank you BlackCanary and GreenArrow… I… huh…” Barry exhaled with a laugh before smiling toward the camera. The chat seemed to have died down, the occasional hashtag or BlackCanary symbol popping up, but nothing too spam inducing. 

 

“Well, I guess I should perform a preview of my newest video then? You know, to celebrate the occasion,” Barry gave a nervous laugh, before minimizing the chat to a reasonable size once again and pulling up the backings. “This one is still extremely rusty guys, so bare with me.” He selects the tracking, holding the guitar on his lap, strumming occasionally as he opens.

 

‘ _ At times like these, when life is getting me down-’ _

 

\---

 

Oliver was going to KILL Laurel the nice time he saw her. Honestly he shouldn’t have mentioned Flash’s screen name to her, he should have seen this coming. One minute he’s in his room setting up his stream while listening to ‘Live While Your Young’ performed with expertise, the next Flash is gawking in utter confusion. Of course Oliver needed context, only to see the streamer’s chat flooded with ‘#ScarletArrow’ and Laurel’s sub icons. He should have known better. Before he had a chance the familiar donation tone rang on the stream. As soon as he saw who submitted the donation, he was so close to standing up and breaking into Laurels room then and there.

 

‘ _ Raid courtesy of GreenArrow, he’s too stubborn to do it himself ?’  _ He heard the stream playback. Oliver could feel the blood rushing to his face. He was never going to forgive Laurel for doing this to him. Yes, he was excited that Flash was getting a bigger audience, heaven knows he deserves it for all the work he puts into his music, but for Laurel to publicly embarrass him, and more importantly throw Flash on the spot like that? It was just rude and uncalled for. 

 

‘ _ Well...um… thanks GreenArrow and BlackCanary’  _ He could hear the discomfort in the other’s voice, and God did he need to clear the air of this situation. But how the hell was he going to do that without fueling Laurel’s sick idea of a joke? For now, he opted to shut down the stream and put on his iTunes playlist to finish setting up, instead of having to deal with the embarrassment that would be staying within that chat.  

 

Oliver was never one to admit when he was embarrassed.. Ignoring the situation entirely was more his style. With a low hum, he opened up his Discord for his mods before typing in a few messages.

 

**GreenArrow:** How many of you saw the stunt Laurel just pulled.

**BlackCanary:** You’re welcome, by the way. He has a bigger audience now.

**OverWatch:** I thought it was kinda sweet, personally.

**WhiteCanary:** Gotta side with Ollie, low blow sis, low blow

**BlackCanary:** oh whatever, what makes you bring it up?

**GreenArrow:** well i’m about to go live and i’d rather not have my entire chat focused on your little ‘gift’ Laur, so if people try to devote the chat to it, can you time them out?

**OverWatch:** And what happens if ScarletSpeedster joins the chat and see’s people getting timed out for it?

**GreenArrow:** He’s live right now, what are the odds he’d join my chat during it.

**Spartan:** Felicity brings up a good point Oliver, wouldn’t want to give off the impression that you don’t like the dude’s content when clearly you do given your reaction to the whole thing.

**GreenArrow:** double teaming on me? Wow, I thought we were friends.

**WhiteCanary:** We are Ollie, that’s why we’re bring it up. 

**GreenArrow:** fine, no one is timing out, but no one is entertaining the conversation  _ LAUREL.  _ Put in a warning at most.

**OverWatch:** Rodger   
**BlackCanary:** you’re no fun   
**Spartan:** 10/4

**WhiteCanary:** o7 Aye Aye.

 

Oliver closed the window, letting out a low sigh before grabbing his headset and sliding it on. Going through his mental checklist a few more times, he threw up his loading screen and  and tapped ‘Go Live’, allowing his playlist ( one entirely separate from his personal playlist ) to play as loading music as he watched his viewer count climb. 

 

Him and Laurel shared a large portion of their audience, since they stream similar things, so he had a feeling that with him going live, whatever remnants of their audience was hanging out in Flash’s stream would jump over to content they actually enjoy, instead of hanging around for stream courtesy. He leaned his head against the back of his chair, internalizing what exactly just happened in the last hour. 

 

1) His guilty pleasure stream was revealed to the entire community, 

2) The Flash now knows he obviously a big time streamer due to the audience explosion he had received during the raid and, 

3) Laurel has new teasing material on him. 

 

So this has just been a great fucking day so far. He let the song die down, before switching to his gameplay. He spared a quick glance at his chat, thankfully moving quickly as always with very little to no reference of ScarletSpeedster or Flash anywhere. With a smug look, he turned on his camera and instantly jumped into gameplay as normal.

 

“What’s up guys, who’s ready to get their asses handed to them today?”

 

\---

 

Barry gave an extremely cheerful wave to the camera before tapping  _ ‘End Stream’  _ on his broadcasting software, allowing the feed to go black before exhaling greatly. He jumped off the stool he called home and moved toward his desk, instantly opening his Discord Server and jumping into the moderation teams channel.

 

**ScarletSpeedster:** Well that was… something.

**Vibe:** DUDE!! GREENARROW KNOWS YOU AND WATCHES YOU! THAT’S HUGE!

**KillerFrost:** Cisco, maybe don’t geek out when Barry’s extremely confused. 

**ScarletSpeedster:** Am I really the only one who doesn’t know who he is?

**TailLights:** you’re the only one here who doesn’t watch gaming channels so of course you don’t know him.

**PersonalHero:** I don’t watch gaming channels and your point?

**KillerFrost:** Hello!! Can we get back on the topic of Barry being raided by one of the top 10 channels on Twitch?!

**ScarletSpeedster:** TOP 10?!?!?!

**Vibe:** Smooth Cait.

**KillerFrost:** Sorry.

**TailLights:**  How did he even find your channel Barr?   
**PersonalHero:** Yeah, it seems a little… uncharacteristic on him to do that.

**ScarletSpeedster:** Well, maybe it was just a random Twitch discovery he wanted to raid?

**Vibe:** Nah man, GreenArrow and BlackCanary only raid people within their friend group normally, do you know how rare it bizarre it is for them to raid someone who’s not associated with them or in one of their mod channels?

**KillerFrost:** And how do you know so much about them Cisco?   
**Vibe:** I’m subscribed to both of their Twitch channels, I’ve been following them for months almost years, honestly Barr, be honored about this whole ordeal.

**ScarletSpeedster:** I just can’t be the only one who finds the whole thing extremely odd, like, why BlackCanary did the raid and not GreenArrow.

**PersonalHero:** I mean, you could always just ask him. He’s live right now, I’m sure his chat is open, maybe shoot a $2 donation with some contact info and just talk??

**Vibe:** Oh that’s the boring way to go across it. If Barry was still live, I would have suggested a counter raid to grab his attention.

**ScarletSpeedster:** since when have I been known to do raids?

**TailLights:** There’s a first for everything.

**ScarletSpeedster:** You guys are no help, I’m gonna try Iris’s method and maybe report back.

 

Barry closed out of Discord, going to open his browser and Twitch in general. He never really did look into the gaming side of Twitch (which, he is aware is extremely bizzare being that’s about 90% of the content on that sight), mostly staying close to his fellow musician and artists, like SuperGirl or FireStorm, never really looking more into gamers. Carefully he found his way to GreenArrows Twitch page, who seemed to be in the middle of a match of some game he couldn’t recognize. Barry glanced toward the streamer himself, who sat in front of a green screen, so the game footage wouldn’t be obstructed. Barry was not one to lie to himself, and the GreenArrow was definitely attractive. Maybe that was part of his appeal. He looked like he should be a model more than a full time video gamer. Barry’s eyes shifted to the chat, scrolling at a pace he was struggling to keep up with. A comment would appear and then instantly vanished. However, one recurring comment caught his attention time and time again, the raid hashtag he was spammed with. #ScarletArrow.

 

“ _ Guys, I thought I told you to drop the stupid hashtag. Next one to bring it up is going to be timed out, I don’t care what you guys say”  _ Barry pinched his eyebrows together at that comment. Was he ashamed to have raided a smaller channel? That couldn’t be the case, he wasn’t the one to do it. Was it some sort of joke BlackCanary decided to play on her fellow streamer? A more likely answer, but that wouldn’t explain the annoyance and almost embarrassment he had in his tone when addressing the comment. Now even more determined to get an answer, Barry quickly located a donation link. He typed in the smallest donation amount to warrant a popup, and quickly began typing.

 

\----

 

‘ _ YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CITY’  _ The audio clip rang through Oliver’s headphones, making him roll his eyes. The stupid audio clip was something he screamed at pure annoyance toward a teammate once over stream, which just resulted in his audience sound biting it and replacing City with different words. It quickly became a running joke. Managing to separate his attention from the game for a split second, he could see the donation amount and a message attached, but not enough time to actually read the thing out without having to sacrifice his teams chance at victory. 

 

“Thank you to whoever donated, I shall read you message as soon as this match is over.” With only a minute on the clock, he wouldn’t have time to actually forget to read his donations; something that was extremely common when donations occured in the middle of the match. Just as time run out, Oliver glanced over to his chat, seeing  that it was 100% spammed with #ScarletArrow. “Guys what the hell, I thought I told you-” Oliver cut himself off when he sees who the donation was from.  _ ScarletSpeedster.  _ Oliver could feel the blush crawling up his skin as he glanced toward the chat, now understanding the spam of the hashtag. 

 

“Um… I’m gonna go on a quick 10 minute break, refill my water and I’ll be right back” He knows it was a lousy excuse to cut off his video camera, but he felt like this was something a bit more personal that didn’t really warrant his entire audience jumping on. As soon as his mic was muted and his intermission screen was up with music playing, he clicked on the donation and pulled up the message.

 

‘ _ I don’t know, I found the hashtag and raid rather flattering. Mind sharing the story of that one?  _

_ ScarletSpeedster#3678 c:’ _

 

Oliver reread the message again and again before copying the Discord account name into his friends search and sending a request. He waited patiently until the notification popped up, announcing that he has a new friend. At an embarrassingly fast pace, he sends a message off to the other streamer, almost instantly regretting what he sent.

 

**GreenArrow:** I promise it’s not what it looks like.

**ScarletSpeedster:** Care to elaborate? Quite a few things has happened.   
**GreenArrow:** The raid hashtag, or the raid in general. Neither were my doing, I promise.   
**ScarletSpeedster:** I can tell, being the raid notification came from BlackCanary and not you?

**GreenArrow:** well, yeah, but It’s more of a thing of I didn’t consent to the raid.   
**ScarletSpeedster:** so it was a joke your friend pulled on you on some random Twitch channel?   
**GreenArrow:** What? NO! Nonono! I actually follow your streams, I was in one before I went live. She saw me watching your stream and I got embarrassed about it and then she raided you without me even knowing it was going to happen and…   
**ScarletSpeedster:** You’re embarrassed to be associated with a smaller channel that has nothing to do with gaming?

**GreenArrow:** No! No no no! I love your channel, I would love to be associated with you in some way ( god that sounded less weird in my head ) but Canary always makes a big deal out of things, and I just… I didn’t want her to do that with you, rope you in to one of her practical jokes or something.    
**GreenArrow:** I love your content. I really do, I guess it’s something I just, wanted to keep to myself and not have my friend group totally ruin for me.   
  


There was a long pause before Flash’s next message. Oliver was going to admit that he was now scared that he did ruin something he enjoyed so much with his own big mouth and not Laurel or Sara’s dumb antics.  He glanced over to the clock. He had a minute before he promised to be back from his intermission, but he wanted to keep talking to the other streamer. Just as he’s about to mute and minimize the app, white text appears along the bottom

 

_ ScarletSpeedster is typing… _

 

\---

 

Barry knew it was a mistake making his donation large enough to warrant an on screen notification the moment it popped up and GreenArrow’s chat exploded with the raid hashtag. Embarrassment filled the brunet as he could feel the heat invading his cheeks.He quickly buried his face in his hands, mentally kicking himself with a sigh.

 

“Way to go, Flash,” Barry mumbled to himself out loud. He closed the stream window out of pure self embarrassment and instead opens up his editing software, hoping to drown out the memory with his work. He slid his headphones on and began playing back the audio Kara had sent him for their next collab video. He found himself getting lost in the mixing that he goes into autopilot mode, clicking on chat notifications as they pop up and replying with only a glance before going back to work. He snapped out of his zone when he notices the notification that popped up wasn’t Kara with her updates on the visuals, or his friend group yelling about something stupid Cisco had just done, but a friend request. From GreenArrow himself.  Barry found himself staring at the notification for a second before hesitantly going to accept it. Being he wasn’t being bombarded with friend requests, he could only assume that this was in fact GreenArrow, and not one of his viewers trying to continue the joke. Just as he was about to go back to work, another notification popped up, this one displaying a DM. 

 

**GreenArrow:** I promise it’s not what it looks like.

 

Barry couldn’t help but give a slightly amused chuckle to his empty studio. Apparently GreenArrow must not be known for his outstanding first impressions, because that was just sad, if Barry was being 100% honest. His fingers slid across the keyboard, countering everything GreenArrow sent in his direction, feeling slightly worse about himself and the situation he was brought into the more they talked. As their conversation continued, Barry’s view on the situation started to change. He was becoming extremely flattered by the other streamer, and honestly wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to the gamer’s little confession. He found himself staring at the pulsating cursor in Discord, praying something would come to mind, something appropriate to say in this situation. After staring at the message for what he could only assume was a good minute, his hands found themselves atop his keyboard again, slowly typing out his response.

 

**ScarletSpeedster:** Oh…. wow um… I’m really flattered, actually. No one has really said something like that about my content, or had made it seem so personal to them. I just… I’m extremely honored you feel like that. How does one respond to such a high compliment to their work like that? Thank you, I guess is the only thing I can say? Not just for the compliment, but also the raid. It actually got me a bunch of new followers and that’s the highest my viewer count has ever gotten. I know that it wasn’t your initial doing, but thanks for that.

**GreenArrow:** You’re welcome. I need to get off intermission for my stream, but I wouldn’t mind talking to you after I’m done?   
**ScarletSpeedster:** Mr. GreenArrow, are you asking me out on an E-Date ;)   
**GreenArrow:** hahaha, oh definitely ;) nothing says perfect first date like your friend publicly embarrassing you just so you two will know about one another.   
**ScarletSpeedster:** Your viewers already ship us, I’d say that’s a good first step. Hahah have a good rest of your stream Arrow.

**GreenArrow:** We shall talk later, Flash.

 

Barry exited out of the Discord app, not even realizing his cheeks were a lot warmer than they were going into this conversation. The smile that had formed on his face didn’t seem to fade as he immersed himself back into work. While his body was on autopilot, his mind kept wandering back to the blonde streamer with a username of a superhero, and the smile just kept going.

 

\---

 

Oliver was never one to rush to finish a stream, especially when streaming was his absolute favorite things to do. Yet the promise of being able to talk with Flash after he was done was definitely a good motivator. After playing seven more matches with his subscribers, he called it a night, saying he had promised a friend to help them with something and was kindly reminded about it during his intermission. Yes, he was aware that was a blatant lie, and anyone of his mods would see right through it and message him to interrogate him, but he couldn’t really be bothered. He was going to get interrogated anyways. He might as well as divert the topic away from Flash as long as possible with his flimsy excuse. He gave a half salute to the camera before clicking ‘End Stream’ allowing the video feed to cut off from both his capturing device and his camera. Oliver leans backwards in his chair, stretching his arms above his head as he slowly loosens his body from sitting in his chair for so long. The gamer moved to his feet, grabbed his water glass and moves toward his office door, only for it to be swung open by an extremely smug looking Laurel.

 

“Can I help you with something” Oliver deadpanned to his best friend, whose smug expression only seems to grow at his tone.

 

“Oh nothing, just wondering which one of our friends you need to help out. Or is it someone you just met? Maybe a certain ‘speedster’ by chance?” Laurel’s air quotes only caused Oliver to roll his eyes in amusement before pushing past her and heading toward the kitchen. The blonde was hot on his trail as he stopped in front of their sink to refill his glass. 

 

“You know, I was honestly expecting you to have some class and wait for me to go on Discord before bombarding me with questions. The others have to wait, why should you get exclusive information first?” Oliver humors Laurel, who responds with a fond eye roll.

 

“They were the cowards who didn’t want to move in with us they can wait their turn. Tell. Me. EVERYTHING!” Oliver chuckled at his best friend’s dramatic behavior, trying not to choke on his glass of water. 

 

“Nothing to report on. We talked for five minutes, I explained how I’m a fan of his work and how you were the ass who decided to raid him, and we agreed to talk more after my stream was finished. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Oliver swerved past Laurel, who attempted to block his path only to fail miserably as he squeezed by without much of an issue. 

 

“I expect a full on essay about your lil date when it’s over Queen.” Laurel’s voice was the last thing Oliver heard before entering his bedroom and closing the door. Now away from the chaos that was his loveable, albeit nosey, roommate, Oliver gravitated toward his laptop and flopped onto his bed. His fingers tapped atop his keyboard as he waited for the machine to fully boot up with it’s satisfying chime before impatiently opening discord and finding his direct message with Flash, blatantly ignoring the push notifications and mentions coming from his mod’s chat. 

 

**GreenArrow:** Hello?   
**ScarletSpeedster:** And there I thought you stood me up. Didn’t you’re stream end like 15 minutes ago?

**GreenArrow:** Oh? Was someone lurking in my chat, counting down the minutes til he could speak with me.

**ScarletSpeedster:** Psh, you wish. My friend Cisco has been following you and BlackCanary for years, he messaged me as soon as your stream ended. Don’t flatter yourself.

 

Oliver couldn’t stop himself from chuckling aloud at the other’s response. Normally he was really good at keeping his responses to whatever he was reading strictly to his screen and keyboard, yet he couldn’t help but smile and laugh at the other’s quick responses and witty remarks.

 

**GreenArrow:** Well tell Cisco to butt out, he shouldn’t be playing spy for me, especially when I don’t have a spy of my own.

 

**ScarletSpeedster:** didn’t you claim you watched my streams? Why would you need a spy when you’re already there.

**GreenArrow:** … Smartass.

**ScarletSpeedster:** :P

 

Oliver found himself laughing aloud again. It was something about the Flash that just made him feel lighter, happier, than he normally was. 

 

**GreenArrow:** So I gotta ask, why do you go by Flash? Wouldn’t the more logically name be Scarlet?   
**ScarletSpeedster:** It’s a nickname my step-sister and her girlfriend gave me. I’ve always been the fastest person they know, so they always called me ‘The Flash’ and all that jazz. I guess it just kinda stuck. Besides, Scarlet sounds too much like a flirt than a nickname to me.    
**ScarletSpeedster:** Okay, question for you. GreenArrow? There has to be a story there.

**GreenArrow:** Indeed there is, thought not as personal as yours. I’m involved with archery IRL and my favorite color is Green. Laurel thought it’d be a better screen name than my original idea ‘The Hood’   
**ScarletSpeedster:** Well god bless Laurel for the save there. And who is this mysterious Laurel? A girlfriend?

**GreenArrow:** Psh, nah. She’s BlackCanary on here. We’re actually childhood best friends who now live together because being streamers ain’t exactly the best way to live solo   
**ScarletSpeedster:** Preach!

**GreenArrow:** Do you have a name on the other side of there Flash Flash 100 yard dash?

**ScarletSpeedster:** Haha, you’re so original, never heard that one before. And yeah, my close friends call me Barry

 

_ Barry…  _ There was something so fitting about that name, it just seemed perfect. Thinking back to the man in question, he could definitely see him as a Barry. 

 

**ScarletSpeedster:** And what about you the ever so elusive ‘Hood’   
**GreenArrow:** I’m gonna regret telling you that aren’t I. Anyways, my family and friends call me Oliver.   
**ScarletSpeedter:** Oliver huh? I never really pictured that for you.   
**GreenArrow:** You’ve only seen my stream once, what the heck did you think my name was?   
**ScarletSpeedster:** IDK, Stephen?

**GreenArrow:** Stephen? Seriously? Well in that case I say you look like a Grant   
**ScarletSpeedster:** Where the heck did you get Grant?!

**GreenArrow:** Where the heck did you get Stephen?   
**ScarletSpeedster:** You know what, I’m changing the subject. What got you into streaming?

 

Oliver found himself getting lost in his conversation with Barry, like nothing else around him seemed to exist. The two ended up talking for hours, learning anything and everything about each other, like how they got into streaming ( Oliver through his friend Felicity and Barry through his friend Kara ), who’s in each other’s designated ‘mod squads’ ( Oliver’s childhood best friends and Barry’s college classmates + two siblings ) and a little about their hobbies ( Oliver with archery and Barry’s love of science ). Oliver seemed to know everything about Barry, but only wanted to know more, spend more time with the man on the other side of the screen, touch him, high five him, kiss him-

 

Oliver’s mind screeched to a halt at that last thought. The two had barely begun to get to know each other, apart from Oliver being a regular on Barry’s streams. There was no way he could have developed a crush for the online personality, that for all he knows could live hundreds of miles away from him. There was no way he could have developed a crush for Barry. And yet…   
  


**ScarletSpeedster:** It’s getting late for me, I promised Caitlin I’d help her with something in the morning and she’d kill me if I’m later than usual   
**GreenArrow:** What time is it for you?   
**ScarletSpeedster:** Almost 3am. Why? Where in the world is Oliver?   
**GreenArrow:** It’s only 1am here. How’s the future looking?   
**ScarletSpeedster:** Shitty, or maybe that’s me being tired. Either way I’m calling it a night   
**GreenArrow:** Do you wanna talk tomorrow night? I mean… if you’re free?   
**ScarletSpeedster:** Yeah… yeah I’d like that. Talk to you tomorrow Ollie :P

 

Oliver smiled to himself as he watched the bright red dot next to Barry’s profile picture disappear and be replaced with a simple gray dot. Closing out discord, Oliver found himself pulling up his iTunes and playing his personal favorite playlist.

 

_ “The sun goes down, the stars come out-”  _ Oliver felt his eyes getting heavy as he began to drift into the world of sleep, the sound of Barry’s voice lulling him off into his dreams.

 

\---

 

Barry wasn’t sure when exactly his crush on Oliver began to develop. If he had to pinpoint a date, he’d probably say about a month or so into their nightly chats. Ever since Laurels raid, the two had become close friends fast, both willing to confide in one another and talk about everything.  Barry’s friends had caught on to his change in mood over their weekly voice calls, and even his viewers discovered that he may have been playing a few more love songs. None could really pinpoint the origin of it though. Barry found himself lurking more in Oliver’s streams, just to hear the other man’s voice and see him yell at an annoying kill that ‘totally should have missed him’. He found himself watching his chat more for Oliver’s song suggestions, then looking to see if anyone else suggested the same song so it wouldn’t look like he had a bias toward Oliver. Iris was the first to bring it to his attention to his sudden behavior, because of course she was. You can’t grow up with someone for ten years  and not be able to read them like a book. 

 

“Wow, you are pathetic.” Iris’ voice  rang through his ear buds, causing Barry’s face to scrunch into one of confusion.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“Oh don’t play dumb with me Barr. You have fallen head over heels for Mr. Arrow and you are far too stubborn to admit it.” Barry’s face scrunched more, hoping Iris would pick up on it over their one-on-one video call. Iris simply rolled her eyes before continuing on her mission. “Have you asked him to voice call yet? Or are you two still acting like ten year olds and only typing to one another?”

 

“Last time I checked, you didn’t ask Linda for voice call until you two were talking for three months, so I think someone’s being a hypocrite” Iris glared at Barry, who only let out an honest chuckle at his sister’s reaction. 

 

“Well that was different being me and Linda were only 19!”

 

“Ah yes, a full two years makes such a difference.” Iris’s glare only intensified, again making Barry laugh in pure joy. “You know you love me.”

 

“Yeah, so you keep telling me. But serious mode here Barr, if you like Oliver, why not tell him? I mean he clearly likes you. He’s raided you, what three times in the past month you guys have known each other? Cisco won’t stop losing his shit ever time it happens and I’m determined you’ll need to revoke his mod status one of these days so Caitlin and I can shut him up about it” Barry laughed once more, happy to know Iris’s true feelings about her fellow moderators. His laughing dies down into a smile, all be it a thoughtful one.

 

“Do you think he’d want to voice chat?”

 

“Barry, go for it, it’s not like you’re asking him to move in or anything. It’s just a simple call, no camera, just your voices. And it’s not like you don’t know what each other sounds like. You’re streamers, you’ve been to each other’s streams. You guys know full well what you’re walking into.”

 

“Yeah, I’m walking into a situation where I don’t have the magic of the backspace to stop myself from saying something stupid.” Barry mumbles into his arms, eyes still focused on his screen to see Iris laughing, thoroughly amused at his turmoil.

 

“You’ll be fine Barr. I have the utmost confidence in you. Now I gotta go, Linda’s gonna kill me if I don’t make her some brownies.”

 

“Don’t die and tell Linda I say hi.” Barry laughs as Iris blows a kiss to the screen before ending their call. Barry flops himself back in his chair, eyes full trained on the ceiling above him. She had a point. It was only a voice chat, and unlike Linda and Iris, they already knew what each other sounded like. Hell they already knew what each other looked like. But why was it so awkward and terrifying to ask Oliver to do one little thing. The sound of a notification snapped Barry out of his thoughts, causing his attention to shift to a discord notification. 

 

**GreenArrow:** What’s this? Barry being late again?

**ScarletSpeedster:** HaHa, everyone’s a comedian. I was on a call with Iris.

**GreenArrow:** Oh? And how is the lady of your life doing?   
**ScarletSpeedster:** She’s well… hey, um, would you like to voice chat?

 

Barry instantly regretted sending that message in the way that he did. There had to be a better, more casual way to slide the idea to Oliver that wasn’t so blunt and straightforward and mess and-

 

_ Incoming Voice Call from GreenArrow  _

 

Oh shit. Barry felt his entire body freeze up at the notification, not entirely sure what to do. He wasn’t expecting Oliver to respond like that. Maybe a simple ‘yeah, give me a second’ and then go, not just straight out of the gate ‘LET’S DO THIS SHIT’ type approach.

 

Realizing that the notification was about to timeout, Barry scrambled to click the ‘Accept’ key before silence was replaced with static, then a voice.

 

“Barry? You there?” Oliver’s voice was crisp and well defined, clearly meaning he was using his streaming microphone and not a laptop mic or anything.

 

“Huh? Oh yeah, yeah I’m here. Sorry you caught me a little off guard.” Barry admitted sheepishly, his voice low and tentative for some reason.

 

“Did I? Sorry, I guess that was kind of forward just sending a call request.” Oliver’s tone sounded equally as sheepish, which caught Barry off guard to say the least. Oliver always spoke with a level of confidence whenever he was lie, to hear anything less than that was strange. 

 

“You’re fine. Better to just get it out of the way instead of pushing it off or just avoiding it.” Barry gives a shrug, again, fully aware Oliver couldn’t see it. Oliver gave a thoughtful hum in response, making Barry’s nerves melt away. 

 

“So, tell me about your call with Iris.” Barry smiled before he jumped into the tale of his day and his sister’s antics. As the conversation went on, Barry felt himself relaxing more and more until it again felt like second nature talking to Oliver. A strange sense of deja vu washed over him as he became remanisent of their first time talking a month or so ago. He had fallen so deep into the conversation that he almost missed Oliver mumble something under his breath. Keyword, almost.

 

“What?”

 

“What?” Oliver responded in equal confusion, their call going silent for a moment.

 

“Did you just call me cute?” 

 

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking-”

 

“You just muttered ‘you’re so cute when you ramble’ into your microphone, Oliver. And being the high quality mic you have, don’t even try to play off the static card.” Barry could feel his cheeks heating up at just the thought of Oliver calling him cute, but the desire for confirmation seemed to have overtaken his embarrassment. Oliver falls silent for a moment, leaving the line dead quiet for far too long. “Oliver?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“If it makes you feel better, I find you cute as well.” Barry’s eyes were now trained on the ceiling, again, fully aware Oliver couldn’t see him. Oliver gave a small chuckle through the mic, making Barry smile and chuckle as well. The two sat there laughing for a few moments before Oliver’s laughing died down.

 

“Barry, you always know exactly what to say to make me smile, do you know that?” Oliver announces with a sense of pride that Barry could partially pick up through his microphone.

 

“I guess that makes us even then, Ollie.” Barry smiled widely to himself, leaning back in the chair. The two continued on like Oliver’s little slip up never happened, just allowing themselves to fall back into their rhythm that was developed in short amount of time, just like Barry’s love for Oliver.

 

\---

 

Oliver loved talking with Barry. It always was the highlight to end his day for the last four months. They had developed so many inside jokes, new exactly when the other was feeling like absolute crap, and Oliver had even gotten Barry to play an MMO with him.  Laurel had learned that after a certain time of night, Oliver was off limits, because of what she dubbed ‘pining over Barry time’. When he had first heard her use the term, he couldn’t help but laugh at how childish it sounded, but as time had passed on, he began to realize that that was exactly what was happening. He knew that he had fallen head over heels for Barry, and that he wanted to be more than just best friends with him. But long distance was hard, especially once they discovered that Barry was in Central City, while Oliver was all the way in Star. Yet he wanted to ask Barry out more than even.

 

“I don’t see what’s stopping you. You both obviously like each other, and it’s not like you can’t just fly out to visit him, especially now that you’ve hit Twitch Ambassador status and have more money coming in.” Laurel mused from over the counter, where the continued to eat their take out chinese. Oliver hummed to himself on the other side, washing his plate off.

 

“What if Barry doesn’t want to do long distance, and I just ruined everything we have when I ask him out?”

 

“Then he’s trash and you should drop him.”   
  


“LAUREL!” Oliver snapped in pure shock at her response. How on Earth could she expect him to do that to someone he cares for so deeply. Her cat like grin ( truly, a staple she has mastered ) returns, almost as if she made a point.

 

“Now, see just based on how you reacted, there is no way you admitting your feelings and him rejecting you could separate the bond you guys have developed. Just go for it.” Laurel’s smug look transformed into one of genuine support and happiness. “And besides, if he does reject you, I’ll fly to Central myself and kick his ass” 

 

“Laurel!” The two laugh as Oliver placed his dishes in the drying rack, glancing at his phone to see a discord notification from Barry. His trademarked ‘Barry smile’ ( as Laurel has dubbed it ) crawled onto the blonde’s face, causing his roommate to roll her eyes.

 

“Go get him tiger. I’m happy for you two and preemptive congratulations.” Laurel called back to Oliver as he walked into his office and set himself up at the gaming computer. He quickly pulled up discord and Barry’s account before sending a video call request. He waited a couple of second before Barry’s face popped up on his monitor, eyes trained on his own scene. 

 

“Okay, you’re gonna have to reteach me how to change my equipment, I’ve been staring here for five minutes and I’m beyond lost.” Oliver couldn’t help but chuckle at Barry’s immediate call for help when their call started. With a simple shake of his head, Oliver was opening up the MMO and logging in.

 

“I thought I told you F5 last week.”

 

“Well yeah, but that was last week, and last time I checked, I wasn’t a gamer.” Barry gave a slight pout and god did Oliver want to kiss it away. Oliver could feel his cheeks heat up a little, and of course in that moment Barry had to glance away from the game he was struggling with and toward Oliver’s video feed. Oliver watched as the brunet’s eyebrows crinkled together in confused and concern upon seeing Oliver’s pinkened complexion.

 

“You okay Ollie? You look flushed?” 

 

“Actually Barry, before we get into the game… I’ve been wanting to ask you something for awhile.” Oliver’s voice was shaking and he knew Barry could tell it was as well, as the musician’s face morphed into one of even more concern. 

 

“What’s up?” Oliver glanced away from the video feed of Barry, hands fidgeted in his lap as he tried to figure out what exactly he was going to say.

 

“Barry… I like you alot… like… ugh this is harder than I thought… okay.” Oliver looked up at his monitor to see Barry staring at him patiently, not trying to push Oliver to say what he was trying to do, or make any assumptions as to what was going to happen. Oliver closed his eyes and exhaled before opening them and staring at Barry with pure determination.

 

“Barry Allen, I love you, and I would love to be your boyfriend.” The words were straight forward and a bit too blunt than Oliver would have prefered, but it was now out there and Oliver had to wait. He watched intently as the brunet’s face grew into a smile, followed by a chuckle, then a full on laugh. Oliver’s face pinched into confusion as Barry hid his mouth with his hand, trying to contain his laugh. Oliver felt his heart almost drop to his stomach at Barry’s reaction. Barry’s laughing began to die down when he noticed Oliver’s face fall, shaking his head frantically to try and stop any thoughts the older of the two was having.

 

“Oliver, I’ve been wanting to ask you out for the last two months, but I was going to ask you tonight! You ruined by plans!” Oliver’s face snapped up at Barry’s most genuine smile, before he broke out into laughter himself. The two smiled at one another over video call before shaking their heads on how stubborn and silly they were both being.

 

“God I wish I could kiss you.”   
  


“You and me both. But hey, now Laurel’s raid hashtag is an accurate one.” Barry muses with a smirk, which caused Oliver to lose in in laughter once again. The two smiled warmly at one another, both totally love struck idiots.

 

“Okay, now can you please help me Ollie, I’m so confused.”

 

\---

 

Barry gave a neutral hum to Oliver over the video chat as he watched his boyfriend get his suitcase packed. He turned his head away from his work ( editing another collab video between him and Kara ) at the sound of Oliver shuffling toward his laptop, which allowed them to be face to face.

 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call you while I’m out there?” Oliver’s tone was slightly distraught, which made Barry chuckle at his boyfriends pout. 

 

“Yes I’m sure Ollie. You got invited to be a featured guest at Twitchcon! I wouldn’t want you not enjoying yourself to the fullest so you can find somewhere quiet to call me.” Barry said with full honesty. He shifted his body so he was more facing Oliver, or at least his camera. Oliver pouted a little more at Barry’s comment.

 

“I wouldn’t mind doing it at all though.”

 

“Ollie. I swear, you’ll be so busy and having the time of your life you’ll probably be too exhausted to actually call me. I don’t mind you missing three days worth of calls.” Barry chuckled lightly at Oliver’s pout, who lowered his head in slight distress. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll leave you a voicemail every night?” 

 

“That makes me feel a little better,” Oliver responded, still with the present pout. Barry laughed at the pout before turning his attention back to his work. “ I just wish you were able to come. Us having our first in person meeting at a convention for the website that we met on.”

 

“Wow Ollie, I didn’t know you were such a romantic sap” Barry deadpans to his boyfriend, glancing toward the monitor that had Oliver on it only to see the older man stick his tongue out toward him. “Very mature.”

 

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll just miss you.”  Barry smiled softly at his boyfriends honestly before he turned away from his work once again. 

 

“Ollie, go have the time of your life at TwitchCon. I know it will be a convention you won’t forget.” 

 

\---

 

Oliver walked through the crowded floor of the convention, eyes trained on his phone, which had been bombarded with text message after text message from Laurel. 

 

_ Laurel: Dude, you said you were going to meet me by the main stage 20 minutes ago! I swear, Barry is a bad influence on you if you’re being late to things. _

 

_ Oliver: HaHa, I got turned around, I’ll be there in 10 at the most.  _

 

It wasn’t a lie. The convention was huge and he had gotten lost just trying to find the nearest bathroom. It also didn’t help he was getting stopped by fans of his channel for selfies and autographs. It was bizzare to Oliver, being seen as a celebrity. He had managed to get one of said fans to point him in the right direction of the stage. With a quick thank, Oliver passed through the sea of people in the direction he was pointed. He could see the lights of the stage, which meant he was extremely close. Just as he was about to close in, his phone vibrated once again. 

 

_ Laurel: The front of the stage got way too crowded. I’m backstage, just flash you’re pass and they’ll let you back here.  _

 

Oliver read the message before moving toward the guard. He held up his ambassadors badge and was given access with a relative haste. The guard flashed him a knowing sorts of smile, which only confused the streamer. Now in the less crowded backstage he scanned the room, until he found Laurel sitting on one of the sofas in the corner, attention on her phone. Just as he began his approach toward her, he felt a hand tap his shoulder, trying to get his attention.

 

“Excuse me, I’m a huge fan and-” Oliver swerved around at a speed that would give a normal person whiplash once he heard the voice behind him. Oliver crashed his lips into Barry’s the moment he had visual confirmation on who was behind him. He could feel Barry laugh against his body as the gamer held his boyfriend tight against him, not wanting to loosen for a second. The two eventually separated to catch their breaths, Oliver resting his forehead against Barry’s as the brunet just gave an out of breath laugh.

 

“Now what would you have done if that was someone else?” Barry commented, which caused Oliver to smack his boyfriends arm playfully. Another heavenly laugh sounded from Barry, as Oliver disconnected their foreheads.

 

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought you said you couldn’t afford to make it out.” Oliver questioned as Laurel approached the two, a knowing smile on her lips as she patted Oliver on the back, which caused him to release Barry from his death grip of a hug.

 

“You can thank Laurel.” Barry admitted, who had positioned himself next to Oliver so that the blonde could wrap an arm around the lanky male’s shoulder and hold him close.

 

“I contacted Twitch, told them you and Barry’s story, and they agreed to surprise you by flying Barry out here.” Laurel explained to Oliver, whose wide eyed expression made the two conspirators laugh. Oliver turned to Barry and placed a well overdue kiss on the male’s forehead ( who was actually taller than him ). He then faced Laurel with the most genuine expression on his face.

 

“Thank you Laurel.” Oliver whispered before turning back to Barry.

 

“I’ll leave you lovebirds alone.” She smiled at the couple before moving to talk to another streamer who was backstage. The two stared at one another, the largest smiles lined their faces. 

 

“Wow Barry, I didn’t know you were a romantic sap,” Oliver mimicked their conversation from before he left for the con, which made Barry laugh once again and God, was that laugh even more beautiful in person than it was online.

 

“I told you that you’d be too busy to call me” Barry responded, his own signature smirk on his lips. Oliver leaned closer to his boyfriend, which allowed their foreheads to connect together.

 

“Oh I think I’m gonna be far to busy to enjoy the con.” Oliver whispered before connecting their lips together for a long, tender, heartfelt kiss that was six months in the making.


End file.
